The European Medicines Agency has restricted the use of alemtuzumab (Lemtrada) for multiple sclerosis while it completes its review of safety issues that have emerged in recent months. Use of the drug will be limited to RRMS patients with highly-active disease despite prior treatment with at least two disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) or for whom all other DMTs are contraindicated. Current patients on alemtuzumab can continue taking the drug in consultation with their neurologist. Read More
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Secondary-progressive MS: conceptual and practical challenges
April 17, 2019Secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) is the onset of gradual worsening of disability following a relapsing-remitting course that may or may not be accompanied by relapses. There are no clear-cut demarcations (imaging, pathologic, immunologic) between the RRMS and SPMS phases, so diagnosis is generally made retrospectively. Read More
Siponimod receives FDA approval for SPMS
March 29, 2019Siponimod (Mayzent), a second-generation sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) receptor modulator, has received approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, including clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), relapsing-remitting MS and active secondary-progressive MS (SPMS). Read More
Novel effects of TKI inhibitors in Parkinson’s disease
March 20, 2019A new study has reported that nilotinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), alters brain dopamine metabolism and significantly reduces plasma total alpha-synuclein in patients with Parkinson’s disease (Pagan et al. Pharm Res Perspect 2019; epublished March 12, 2019; free full text at https://bpspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/prp2.470). Read More